Railroad-tie.



PATBNTED DBG. 1, 19.03,'

W. H. STULTS. RAILROAD TIE..

APPLIoA'rIoN rum D110. 2o, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented December 1, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE..

VILLIAM HUGH STULTS, OF MULBERRY GROVE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BARNEY J. BOYLE, OF MULBERRY GROVE, lLLINOIS.

RAiLROAD-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 745,686, dated December 1, 1903. Applicatinn iiled December 20,1902. Serial No. 136,065.- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM HUGH SrUL'rs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mulberry Grove, in the county of Bond and State of Illinois, have invented a new and. useful Railroad-Tie,of which the followingisaspeciiication. 4

This invention relates to railway-ties, and has for its object the production of a simplyconstructed tie, wholly of metal, with the holding means by which the rails are clamped in position and firmly braced and supported integral therewith and the necessity for employing spikes, bolts, or other similar separate holding means obviated; and the invention consists in certain novel features of -the construction, as hereinafter shown and described, and specied in the claim.

In the drawings illustrative of the invention, in which like designating characters are employed for corresponding parts in all the figures, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of the tie-sections detached. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation, of the improved tie applied.

The improved tie is formed of two longitudinally-disposed sections constructed precisely alike and adapted when reversely disposed and united to form the improved tie. By this means the sections may be manufactured in large quantities and shipped irrespective of` their relative arrangement and when assembled may be readily applied to the rails by merely selecting any two of the sections and placing them in opposite relative positions. The sections are thus interchangeable and transferable to any desired extent, which greatly simplifies the operation of laying a track and adjusting the rails relative to the ties. One of these interchangeable sections is illustrated in Fig. 1, while in Figs. 2 and 3 a pair of them are shoWncoupled together to form a complete tie. YVhile the tiesections are thus formed precisely alike and are duplicates in every respect, when in operation they will be reversely arranged, and for the purpose of this description separate sets of designating characters are employed to denote the two independent sections, and

to this end one of the sections is designated by the character 10 and the other section by the character 11.

at one side, as indicated at 14. The end of v the section 10 which carries the brace 16 is wider than the other end, and said widened portion terminates near thebase of the brace 16 in an inwardly-projecting inclined shoulder l5, the opposite side of said section being lstraight and dat throughout its length. The

sections so formed are simple in form and cheap to manufacture and areA solid a-nd strong to resist all strains. The opposite sectioull is provided with an outer rail-brace 18, having a lateral extension 19 and overhanging and adapted to engage the outer side of the vertical web and the outer iiange of the rail 17, and likewise provided. with an inner rail-brace 20, overhanging, as shown in Fig. 2, and adapted to engage the inner side of the vertical web and the tie-flange of the rail 13. The section 11 is likewise widened at the end opposite the brace 18, forming .a shoulder 2l, similar to the shoulder 15 and likewise inclined, so that when the two sections are placed side by side, as shown in Fig. 2, a wedge-shaped cavity adapted to receive the wedge 22 is formed, as indicated.

The section 10 will be provided with spaced transverse elongated apertures 23 24, and the section 11 will be provided with corresponding elongated apertures 26, the two sets of apertures adapted to register when the sections are placed side "by side and receive clamp-bolts 27 28, providedwith nuts 29 30, by which means the two sections may be firmly clamped transversely. By this arrangement it will be obvious that the two sections 10 11 may be forcibly moved longitudinally by driving the wedge-key 22 into the wedgeshaped aperture between the parts and the parts maintained in any desired position by the clamp-bolts 27 28.

By extending the rail-braces 12 18 laterally, as indicated at 14 19, the bearing-surfaces of the outer rail-braces are greatly in- IOO A creased at points where most required, as the greater strains are outwardly, especially when running upon curves. The lateral extensions 14 19 likewise materially increase the strength of the joints between the parts by aording a resistance against any tendency of the parts to vertical movement or vertical displacement. By this arrangement also the rails may be very firmly clamped from both sides and any tendency to lateral displacement obviated. ment that all spikes, bolts, and similar` separate holding means are dispensed with, as the rail-braces firmly support the rails and obviate the necessity for any other fastenings. By this arrangement also the rails are supported much more firmly than is possible with.

spikes or bolts or similar detachable holding means, which are liable to work loose by the jar and concussion of the trains.

With this device the clamping means may be maintained Very firmly united to the rails by driving the Wedge-key farther into the Wedge-shaped socket, and in event of the parts working loose they may readily be tightened by a few blows of a hammer upon the Wedge-key. The track walkers may thus keep the track in perfect order by exercising a comparatively small amount of 'labor and time.

The device may be readily applied to all the various sizes of rails and also to the various modifications in gage.

It will be noted also by this arrange Any required number of the transverse slots and clamp-bolts may be employed; but generally two will be sufficient, as shown.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- An approximately rectangular cross tie lformed in longitudinal sections, each having one side formed straight-and tlatthroughout its length and the other. side being widened throughout a portion of its length and offset at its juncture with the main body to form a shoulder, the side of the widened portion being straight and extending in a plane parallel with the plane occupied by the side of the narrower main body of the section, said shoulders being inclined toward the bottom of said sections to form tapering recesses, wedgeshaped keys adapted to bedriven into said recesses to move said sections longitudinally in opposite directions to adapt the ties to fit rails of varying thicknesses and tracks of varying gages, said sections having overhanging rail-braces spaced from the ends thereof and pointingin the same direction, and means for clamping said sections transversely.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aixed my signature in in the presence of two witnesses.

h1 WILLIAM HUGH -i STULTS.

mark Witnesses to mark ot William Hugh Stults:

T. E. DAVIS, B. J. BOYLE. 

